Harrowing images of an emaciated baby, his spine and shoulder blades clearly visible through his paper-thin skin, will surely come to symbolise the rapidly unfolding crisis in Gaza. Since they were taken earlier this week – and featured on the front page of the Daily Express – the pictures of tiny Mohammed Zakariya Ayyub al-Matouk have been reproduced thousands of times. Now, the photographer behind them has told the story behind the snaps.
Speaking to BBC Newshour, Ahmed al-Arini said 18-month-old Mohammed and his mother had been displaced from their home in the northern Gaza Strip. He explained: “So he was there with his mother in a tent which is absolutely bare bar an oven. It resembles a tomb really.” Mr al-Arini continued: “And I took this photo because I wanted to show the rest of the world the extreme hunger that babies and children are suffering from in the Gaza Strip.”
Mohammed had no access to milk or baby formula, Mr al-Arini emphasised.
He pointed out: “And if you look at the photo closely, you’ll find that he’s wearing a plastic bag instead than Pampers because of the lack of any humanitarian aid and the lack of any medicines.”
Mr al-Arini further acknowledged the deep personal impact the encounter had had on him, adding: “Filming baby Mohammed, I did it over a little extended period, because I had to pause after each shot and take my breath to be able to continue.”
The starvation crisis comes as the number of daily aid distributions for the approximately two million people in the Strip averages the equivalent of about 28 trucks of humanitarian goods. Prior to the war, prompted by the Hamas attack on Israel carried out on October 7, 2023, about 500 trucks of aid used to be let into Gaza.
A joint statement signed by more than 100 NGOs on Wednesday warned: “Children starve while waiting for promises that never arrive.
“Palestinians are trapped in a cycle of hope and heartbreak, waiting for assistance and ceasefires, only to wake up to worsening conditions.
“It is not just physical torment, but psychological. Survival is dangled like a mirage. The humanitarian system cannot run on false promises.”